Berlusconi: Liking girls better than being gay
His comments sparked immediate condemnation from gay rights group Arcigay, which demanded an apology for causing offence to both women and gays.
Berlusconi insisted yesterday that his government would last its full term despite a new clamour for early elections after he intervened to spare a teenage runaway named Ruby from possible jail time.
Opposition politicians have called for Berlusconi to resign, charging that he abused his office by calling police in May when Ruby, then 17, was detained for an alleged theft.
Newspapers have reported that Berlusconi told police that a local party official would take custody of the girl from Morocco, who reportedly visited Berlusconi’s Milan villa on at least one occasion.
Even centre-right commentators in Berlusconi’s family-owned newspapers have criticised him for intervening in a possible criminal case.
Berlusconi assured supporters his government still had a majority and would last the remaining three years of its five-year term. He said early elections would be a disaster for a country emerging from the economic crisis.
He called the Ruby scandal a “paper storm” whipped up by hostile, deceptive newspapers and again defended his decision to intervene in her case.
In May, Ruby was detained by Milan police for an alleged theft but was let go after Berlusconi called police and arranged for a party official, onetime showgirl and Berlusconi dental hygienist Nicole Minetti, to take custody of her.
Berlusconi has admitted to intervening to help Ruby and said yesterday he’d do it again.
Ruby, meanwhile, told Libero, a conservative newspaper close to Berlusconi, that she would tell her version of the story tomorrow on a popular state-run RAI television talk show. Her comments have been inconsistent and even Libero questioned her truthfulness.
She repeated she never had intimate relations with the premier, though she said she “adored” him.
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